Epigonus okamotoi (Perciformes: Epigonidae), a junior synonym of E. draco, with new distributional records for E. atherinoides and E. lifouensis in the West Pacific Author Okamoto, Makoto Author Chen, Wei-Jen Author Shinohara, Gento text Zootaxa 2018 2018-09-13 4476 1 141 150 journal article 29439 10.11646/zootaxa.4476.1.13 87bc8f85-1dad-4a65-91ce-ada2307ff676 1175-5326 1440401 649E3BCB-9C26-45B6-91DC-ED7C51F61C13 Epigonus lifouensis Okamoto & Motomura 2013 English name: Loyalty DeepWater Cardinalfish ( Fig. 4 ; Table 1 ) Epigonus lifouensis OKAmOTO & MOTOmuRA, 2013: 302 , fIg. 1 (ORIgInAl dEscRIPTIOn, TyPE lOcAlITy: 21°40′59″S , 167°31′59″E , sOuTH Of LIfOu IslAnd , LOyAlTy IslAnds , NEW CAlEdOnIA , WEsTERn PAcIfIc [cOllEcTEd duRIng THE MUSORSTOM 6 ExPEdITIOn undER THE TDSB ]). Material examined. 1 specimen . South China Sea: NTUM 13374, 175.0 mm SL, 16°03′N , 113°54′E , seamount nearby the Macclesfield Bank, South China Sea, 356–410 m depth, St. CP4151, 27 July 2015 , R/V OR1, ZhongSha 2015 Expedition. Diagnosis. A species of Epigonus With the folloWing combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays VII–I, 10; pectoral-fin rays 18–19; total gill rakers 24–25; vertebrae 10 + 15; pyloric caeca 9–13; pored lateral-line scales 47– 49 + 3–5; opercular spine absent; maxillary mustache-like processes absent; ribs on last abdominal vertebra present; tongue toothless; tubercle absent on inner symphysis of loWer jaW; eye elliptical; body depth 16.2–17.1% SL; and posterior half of oral cavity and tongue black. Distribution. KnoWn from NeW Caledonia (Okamoto & Motomura 2013) and South China Sea (present study), at depths of 356–575 m ( Fig. 2 ). Remarks. Epigonus lifouensis Was originally described on the basis of tWo specimens collected from the south of Lifou Island, Loyalty Islands , NeW Caledonia , at depths of 500–575 m and recogniZed as a member of the E. pandionis group (Okamoto & Motomura 2013). The present specimen represents the first record of the species from the South China Sea, TaiWan . DeepWater cardinalfishes of TaiWan are represented by tWo species including the first record of E. lifouensis here reported and E. denticulatus DieuZeide, 1950 . Although Gon (2000) listed E. macrops (Brauer 1906) in the checklist of the fishes of the South China Sea, it may be a misidentification (see Okamoto & Nakayama 2016 ). It should be noted that the specimens available to date Were collected at a ridge nearby remote islands or a seamount rather than on the continental slope, suggesting a particular habitat of the species.